Jamaican economist nominated to serve as IMF Deputy MD

Former IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde in conversation with Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness (centre) and then Ambassador Plenipotentiary for Economic Affairs Dr Nigel Clarke (Jamaica Observer photo)

Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, has proposed to the Board that Dr. Nigel Clarke, a University of the West Indies graduate and a former Jamaican Minister of Finance and Public Service, be the Fund’s next Deputy Managing Director. Dr. Clarke who is expected to succeed the Liberian Economist, Antoinette Sayeh, who steps down on September 12, will assume the position effective October 31.

 An IMF release issued on Monday quotes the Fund’s Managing Director as describing Dr. Clarke, as “an exceptional public servant and policymaker, with proven leadership in institution building and economic crisis management,” whom, she added, “has stewarded his country’s economy to a stronger and more sustainable position.” The release further credits Dr. Clarke with spearheading “Jamaica’s economic policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic with innovative and well-targeted policy support and completed privatizations and public-private partnerships of major infrastructure assets.”